Two-Thirds of Americans Don't Know If They Will Insure Under Obamacare

[Yo_Mama]

70. The problem is that it's crappy insurance

I mean, if you have a car accident, it will be wonderful for the hospital. And it's going to be good for most insurance companies. But for a lot of people, the deductibles and copays are so high that they literally won't be able to afford routine health care.

Look at Silver plans:
http://www.coveredca.com/PDFs/English/CoveredCA-HealthPlanBenefitsComparisonChart.pdf

The subsidies make insurance cheap but actual medical care very expensive unless you are close to the Medicare line. Geeze, a generic medication copay of JUST $25 bucks? And if you need something not generic, it's a $250 deductible plus $25?

So let's say I have a urinary tract infection. I have already had my one free visit a year. I go to the doctor which costs me $45. The doctor orders a urinanalysis and sensitivity culture (to see what meds the infection is susceptible to), which costs me $45. It's going to cost me at least another $25 for the prescription, and God help me if it turns out I need something expensive, because then it's going to cost me $25 + $250. So the minimum cost for something common like this will be $115, and for some it will be $390.

There are additional lower costs for lower income people, but it looks like those kick in for the out-of-pocket costs.

God help diabetics on expensive meds with low incomes. We might as well just shoot them when they walk through the door. Every time you order lancets it's a prescription, and test strips are a prescription, and insulin/etc is a prescription.

Here's the sliding benefits widget:
http://www.coveredca.com/PDFs/English/CoveredCA_HealthPlanBenefitsSummary.pdf

Yes, a 60 year old with a silver plan and $26,000 a year in income will only have to pay $156 a month for the insurance, but look at the copays for this person which you can find at the link just above.

A lot of people who actually need medical care simply will not be able to get it with this deal. And the lunatics who are claiming this will end medical bankruptcy! My God, the rate of medical BKs are going to go through the roof. The max out of pocket, not including premiums, is $5,200 a year.

So we are theorizing that this 60 year old who has income of $26,000 annually is going to have to pay $7,072 out of pocket any year with high medical costs? That's about 33% of after-tax income, isn't it? So $20,000 - $7000 leaves $13,000 in cash to live on? Pay for transportation, housing, etc?

Sorry, I'm just heartsick at what is happening to a lot of people here. This is a joke. It's not so bad for younger healthy people, but for any one with any real medical problem who isn't earning a pretty good amount, this isn't "access to health care". It isn't. It's a hospital-profit-protection-plan for required-emergency-treatment.

No one in his or her right mind would believe that many of these people will be getting the care they need. These plans aren't so bad for relatively high earners who buy the "Gold" plans (not subsidized). But lower income people won't be able to afford the copays.